Japanese, European, and Korean auto companies get funding from thier government to expand fuel economy improvements, create new technology etc. I actually travelled to Korear in 1996 as a college student on moeny funded by the Korean government to help thier students learn about how to build Formula SAE cars. Thier government was funding Auto research for ONE college to the tune of $5 billion dollars / year.

Now, our government funds big oil and subsidizes barrel prices etc in the name of controlling demand in order to save ourselves from ourselves demanding too much oil, while at the same time keeping our own oil in stores for “emergency”. Bush, sorry, “Dubya” and his chronies work hand in hand with foreign oil suppliers — aka, the Bin Laden family, from which comes Osama Bin Laden (hmmm strange connection there). To keep oil demand up, and “control” the foreign oil, after 9/11 Bush sent troops over to Iraq (WTF?), supposedly to find Osama, no wait, I mean, WMD and take down Saddam Hussein (WTF again?) spending an assumed $50 Billion for the campaign. Which, by the way, now has cost a total of $368 Billion DOLLARS to date! Yet, Bush, “Cannot make your automakers profitable” How about just taking that little war chest treasury money spent creating MORE chaos in Iraq than when Hussein was in power, and spending it on Automotive reasearch, alternative energy research, and leave teh F#&^*$NG Middle East to rot in thier oil reserves forever! Look what the Koreans have done with $5 billion/year for the last ten years (which is only $50 Billion) They are knocking down the Japanese after taking out the Americans. If only American had enough nationalistic pride to see past individual needs, getting fat and rich, and soaking in oil to vote those war dollars to national progress, similar to teh Japanese, Koreans, and Europeans. Like our great grandfathers did when building all the things we enjoy and spoil.

Of course Vines is going to poke at the energy sector because without less expensive fuel he can’t sell what he’s building or what he’s making the most profit on. For that I can’t blame him. But if you’re truly upset at the cost of energy and the massive profits fueled by our insatiable demand for cheap gas then do yourself a favour and buy stock in the energy sector. Be an owner, not a loaner and take control of the situation for your own benefit. Stop crying that gas is going to be $3+ this summer because it’ll be even more later. It’s inevitable due to the nature of the oil/energy business.

The cost to fill up a gas guzzler is becoming a tax on lifestyle. So if you use less you pay less. And the nature of competition is such that if the big three either don’t or can’t produce vehicles that people buy then they have problems. Gas prices affect the car buying public and obviously the big three where a lot of profit is concentrated in SUVs. No wonder Vines is sounding off.

And he’ll say just about anything to get people focused on Big Oil rather than the inherent responsibility to produce cars that are not only desirable but less harmful to the environment which includes overall efficiency. The fact is that Big Oil spends billions searching for new oil resources every year and the cost of exploration is increasing as the easily exploitable resources diminish.

Big Oil is always going to be blamed yet some of them (Shell, BP) are investing huge sums in alternative energy such as solar power, particularly PVs. Big Oil is transforming (slowly) from Big Oil to Big Energy. They are making sizable profits today – profits everyone can take advantage of if they invest.

The US consumer went nuts with fear in ‘72 and demanded the country get off oil. Carter was elected and correctly begain to fund many new technologies. Then the Arabs got wise and decreased the price again. Cheap oil flooded the market. Carter was defeated along with all of his conservation efforts and new energy source research. Americans fell back to doing the easiest, and cheapest thing – continue to buy oil by the boatload from the nefarious oil pushers of the Middle East who soon recognized that a fat and satisfied American oil addict was worth keeping by all means.

The greedy 80s and SUV gas hog filled 90s continued to see cheap and plentiful imported oil and a complacient, completely addicted American public who had lots of cash and a major “what me worry?” attitude.

Enter the 21st century and the rise of the Chineese middle class and a rapidly expanding consumer market that is BILLIONS strong causing a worldwide competition for oil and a subsequent rise in oil prices that the Arabs could no longer control. America elects a bumbling former oil executive for President, starts a war in Iraq for oil and continues to have it head up it’s collective butt until gas hit’s $2 a gallon and now shows no signs of stopping it’s steep climb to $3 and beyond. And you fools are pointing fingers at big oil or the auto makers?? What a bunch of loosers! Admitting our oil addiction is the first step in overcoming it!

We are the problem. If you want to stop the steep climb in oil prices then stop trying to keep up with the Jones’ and buying these 13mpg behemouth SUVs to drive to the grocery. Start conserving. Demand more and convient public transportation. Buy only high mpg, alternative fueled vehicles. Get your fat butts out of that fat SUV and walk or bicycle. Demand effective political leadership and elect leaders who will help move this country off it’s addiction to oil instead of starting wars to get more. We clearly have no one to blame but our affluent and apathetic selves for $3+/gallon gas…

Let me clarify something for you. First I happen to support all of the big three. I drive a Chrysler LHS, my wife drives a Ford Contour and I happen to have a vintage Camaro in the garage which by the way likes to burn fuel. smile.

My point is this. There are two ways of making a profit. One is to mass produce and make a profit on volume or price high and make a profit on low volume. Sure the Mustang is helping Ford out but it is not a cure for their problems.

Maybe you happen to be one of the few that can afford or is willing to pay the inflated price for a vehicle and that is good. We need people like yourself to keep the economy going. But your average person probably cannot afford these inflated prices. So the solution is obvious. Make an affordable, fuel effecient auto so most people can afford.

You are only fooling yourself in thinking that there is and infinite fuel supply. Here in Canada I pay roughly $ 4.50 per gallon and closer to $ 5.10 per gallon for the Camaro. If you want to play you have to pay. The solution to high fuel cost. Buy a smaller affordable car.

One company PROFITTED $36 BILLION last year. Yet, every time something happens, prices go up.
“Katrina”
“Rita”
“A spotted owl lost its home in Oregon”
“I have an odd amount of billions in my bank”
“I want to laugh harder at the people”
“I hate the old bat that lives next door so I want her to freeze to death”

“Blah, Blah, Blah”

Let’s keep the comments up and send them to Washington. Wait a minute: can’t do that! THEY have investments in “Big Oil”.

Oh Superman! Where are you?!

The price per gallon of gasoline is pretty stable world wide, it’s just that other countries rape their people with gasoline taxes. Roughly about 15% of what we pay is in taxes. In England it’s 67%, Italy it’s 65%, Germany it’s 65%, France about 60%, Spain about 55%, Japan about 50% and so on. Don’t let anyone tell you we should match what the other countries are paying.

Exxon’s website says that it cost’s .48 cents per gallon to produce a gallon of gasoline. I paid $2.679 a gallon yesterday to fill up, so let them explain who is profiting from the other $2.199 per gallon? Exxon of course, judging from their profits last year.

I work in the food industry. If the good industry didn’t keep up with the demand for food, we would all be hungry. The oil industry apparently refuses to keep up with the demand when the shutdown of a plant somewhere can drive the price of gasoline up. They have an excuse every time the price is increased…we’re changing to our winter blend, our summer blend, the driving season has started, Katrina shut down part of our refining capacity, some oil executive stubbed his big toe.

We all need to be screaming at the oil companies. The oil companies need to be investigated NOW.

In the end, it’s all of our faults. This is a capitalist market. The easy response is to cap or tax or artificially alter the way the market moves. And that my friends is communism. I am all for the free market. There is nothing stopping us from investing in new technologies. Necessity is the mother of invention and I for one am excited to see what is born out of this necessity.

I would love to see GM, Ford, and Chrysler band together to invest and develop the E85 technology enough to make it a viable soultion. Could you imagine the pride and nationalism that would result in that project? They would be back in the hearts of Americans in no time and sales would be huge. What’s happening is they each are trying to develop something in a bubble to comete against eachother and the Japanese. This is a bigger problem than that. An oil rig off the coast costs $5 Billion+ to develop and build. How much land and equipment could a company purchase with $5Bil and create ethanol? Jeeze louise that’s alot of ethanol!

I can see why the big three are upset with the oil companies. The high fuel cost are taking sales away from their cash cow. The s.u.v’s which may I say are way over priced. So I say to the big three get with the program. Build fuel efficient vehicles at a reasonable price. By the way I have been saying for years that one day car payments would cost just as much as your mortgage payment on the house. Need I say more.

Here is the answer to affordable tranportation. Cut your use of fuel comsumption and delay your car purchases. It’s economics. Suppply and demand.

I am not a union worker wish I was I would make alot more money. With that said quit blaming the union for all of the problems in the auto industry. The way I see it. The blame is 50% union and 50% management. Also quit blaming all the automotive problems on the foreign manufactures they are not the ones that created all these problems. Actually at the moment they are creating jobs. In the past money was just thrown every which way. I cannot believe that no one saw these problems coming.It’s unbelievable the rate of excutive pay being handed out. Sorry no one is worth $ 1,000,000.00 a year. I cannot understand how these excutives can get up in the morning and look at themselves in the mirror.

On a closing note. To GM and Chrysler. Don’t bother building your new Camaro or Challenger if you cannot make it affordable. I have been a GM supporter for many years. I did not buy your 2002 Camaro because it was over priced. As much as I like the new Camaro I will not buy that either if it’s over price.

I thought that I would take the time to write this. I don’t expect that anybody would take this seriously. Twenty years ago when I predicted that the auto industry would be in trouble everyone thought yeah right. So here we are with the auto industry in trouble. Interesting.

Rob

What would work is Congressional legislation mandating all gas stations carry E85. Plus more legislation to make the oil business as mind boggling as the medical business, so that Congress can fine the oil companies over and over for violating some obscure laws.
We’ll just have to wait until the US Congress sees it as a big enough problem. It’s not a problem yet, as other countries have $6/gallon gas.

Meanwhile, the only people with power over the oil industry, the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans, blocked a $5 billion windfall profits tax on the oil industry, and even gave the industry an extra $7 billion in tax subsidies.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060214/ZNYT01/602140418/1001/BUSINESS

That $40 for every American.

I need to fly to Nigeria on Monday to collect a $10 million bounty from a prince who lives there. I’m helping him deposit money into my US bank account, and I may get delayed at the airport.

I wish I could meet him and shake his hand: I agree with everything he says and I admire the way he said it, directly to the point !